


Days Like This

by dragon_with_a_teacup



Category: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard - Rick Riordan, RIORDAN Rick - Works
Genre: Chierro, Confessions, Fluff, He/Him Pronouns for Alex Fierro, Hurt/Comfort, Post-The Ship of the Dead, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-05-28 15:19:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19396858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragon_with_a_teacup/pseuds/dragon_with_a_teacup
Summary: “You almost burned down the Hotel because of the microwave?”Magnus’ ears turned scarlet. “I wanted popcorn,” he mumbled.





	Days Like This

**Author's Note:**

> Alternate title: Your Hotel is On FIIIIIYYYYYAAAAAHHHHH (if you get the reference, I love you)

Alex’s day didn’t start in a particularly weird way, but he should have known it wouldn’t remain like that.

After an uneventful morning, Alex sat at the pottery wheel, intending to spend most of the day—or at least until dinner—working. He hadn’t had much time for pottery lately, having spent the past few days marathoning the Harry Potter films with Magnus (sans the Fantastic Beasts debacles, naturally). However, Alex needed a change of pace for a while; he had felt the itch all day to sit down and just _create_ something.

He was in the midst of shaping a vase when, without warning, one of the most obnoxious, eardrum-explosion-inducing, tinnitus-causing screeches Alex had ever heard blared from nowhere. He clapped his hands over his ears, cursing when he realized the move had resulted in clay getting all over the sides of his face and in his hair. He stood and looked around. Where the hell was that gods-forsaken sound coming from?

Alex located the source of the noise within seconds—a small circular object attached to the ceiling near the kitchen wing of the suite. Okay… When had that gotten there? Alex was certain it hadn’t always been there… had it?

Besides, why would this place even have fire alarms? It was a magical hotel populated almost exclusively by immortal warriors.

Whatever. Better to get out of here, if only to escape the horrendous wailing.

Head down, ears still plugged, Alex raced out into the corridor and made a beeline for the elevator. A neon sign had appeared on the doors, however, adorned with an arrow pointing toward the nearby staircase. Determined, Alex pushed the down button anyway. The elevator didn’t open. The only thing that happened was the neon sign seemed to glow brighter.

“Oh, screw you and all you stand for!” Alex snapped at it.

“Alex?” a voice called, somewhat obscured by the squalling of the alarms.

Alex whirled to find TJ, hands covering his ears too. His bayonet was cradled in the crook of his arm, because of course it was. “Do you know what’s going on?” Alex asked.

TJ shrugged. “No clue.” His eyes widened, and Alex thought he’d seen the sign directing them toward the stairs—until he asked, “Do you smell smoke?”

Alex inhaled, and a distinct burning smell reached his nose. Some type of food, obviously, but Alex was too distressed by the terrible noise to be able to pinpoint it.

“I do,” he replied. “I think that’s our cue.”

TJ nodded, and together, they dashed for the doorway leading to the steps and ran down. More than once, Alex almost toppled over, hands being occupied covering his ears. There were alarms in the stairwell, too, so they were given no reprieve from the frightful shrieking. In other words, this journey was the worst run Alex had gone on… probably ever.

At the bottom of the nineteen flights of steps, Alex staggered to a halt, gasping for breath. TJ, though, grabbed Alex’s arm and tugged. “Come on,” he panted, “we better keep going.”

“Where?” Alex asked. He couldn’t remember being taught about the protocol for an evacuation from the Hotel. Probably because who would have thought there would ever be an occasion when Valhalla, the hall of Odin’s chosen warriors, might be in danger of burning down? “Out to Boston?”

TJ pointed, and Alex followed his gaze to another arrow, which guided the now-numerous einherjar toward an exit door. After some jostling and stumbling, Alex, TJ, and the other warriors stepped into a space that was blessedly quieter.

“Are you serious?” Alex asked, his hands dropping to his sides, staring around at where the Hotel had herded them.

The Valhalla residents, as well as the Valkyries who were present, stood on a branch of Yggdrasil. Underneath their feet spread an expanse of bumpy, moss-covered bark. Alex glanced down over the edge of the wide branch and resisted a shudder; they were at least a mile off the ground. From this height, the wind fluctuated between intense gusts and utter stillness. Alex couldn’t decide which was more unnerving. The former made him fear he’d lose his footing and fall, but the latter felt like the eye of the storm. All in all, this was not an ideal location for a fire evacuation.

“Well, I hate this,” Alex declared.

TJ nodded, though his eyes were fixed on the door they’d come through. “Oh good, there’s Mallory and Halfborn.”

The other two hallmates hurried toward them. “What the bloody hell is going on?” Mallory asked through gasps. She clutched a stitch in her side, and her hair was even more chaotic than usual.

“I wish I knew,” TJ said. “There was definitely smoke, though.” His tone was determinedly unconcerned, but Alex didn’t fail to notice the way he eyed the crowd. “Has anyone seen…?”

He trailed off, biting his lip, but Alex didn’t need to hear the rest of his question for unease to creep in. Alex scanned the gathered einherjar as well, but nowhere nearby did he see a mop of ever-messy blond hair and stormy gray eyes.

Before any of the hallmates could express their growing concern, Hunding appeared in the midst of the crowd. Flustered, he pushed through. “Now, now, calm down,” he instructed. “We can deal with this.”

“Is it just me,” Alex asked, “or would you guys prefer he sounded more confident?”

He stepped away from his friends, trying and failing to ignore his hammering heart. “Magnus?” he called.

Still no reply.

Alex spun around, eyes flitting from einherji to einherji, now sometimes catching on a glimpse of light hair or a necklace or a dopey grin. None of those things belonged to Magnus, though.

Alex was about to call out again when the door back into Valhalla opened once more. With it, the aroma of smoke wafted out over the crowd. Alex spun around and saw a group—flock? squad? nevermore? whatever—of ravens emerge, buckets clutched in their talons. In a synchronized swarm, they flew down toward the base of the Tree. A surprisingly short time later, they reemerged with the buckets full of water.

“Where did they find…?” Alex started to ask.

Beside him, Halfborn shrugged. “Magic?”

Alex tilted his head. “Yeah, I guess.”

Most of the gathered warriors watched the raven water brigade, but Alex was thinking. “The fire’s on an upper floor, so won’t it take them a while to get up there?”

He didn’t need to mention that if Magnus were still upstairs, it would take him a while to escape.

TJ put his hand on Alex’s shoulder. “I’m sure he’s not still up there. He’s probably wandering around here somewhere, looking for you.”

But something deep inside Alex didn’t, couldn’t, hear him. Anxiety was twisting Alex’s heart, lungs, very being. Was it anxiety, though, or intuition? He didn’t know why, but he was _certain_ that something was very wrong. Magnus should be here by now. That he wasn’t here, at Alex’s side, when every other einherji had left the Hotel, surely meant something.

Not that it even should be frightening; Magnus was an einherji, so he should be unable to die within the Hotel. Then again, the Hotel had never been on fire before, as far as Alex knew. What if this was some sort of attack? What if this was an unforeseen indicator of Ragnarok?

But it was too soon, Alex thought, for the world to end. Three years. Magnus had only been in Alex’s life for three years. Alex wanted more; Alex wanted _all_ the years with Magnus. But was the chance for that about to be taken away by a stupid fire?

“Hey,” Mallory murmured, looping her arm through Alex’s and squeezing. “He’s been through worse than this. He’s fine.”

“But where _is_ he?” Alex hated the way his voice came out strained, but also couldn’t help it. A vision swam before Alex’s eyes: Magnus collapsed somewhere in the Hotel, coughing and alone, as a fire rose up on all sides. Alex clenched his hands into fists to try to prevent them from shaking.

“Don’t worry, Alex,” Halfborn said. He rose up on his toes, using his impressive height to help Alex search. “We’ll find him.”

“But what if he’s—”

Then, a familiar call sliced through the panic clouding Alex’s mind, cutting off the rest of the question. “Alex?”

In response, not even aware of having moved, Alex tore free of the others and rushed forward. “Magnus!”

Alex dodged around a cluster of obnoxiously tall einherjar, eyes flying across the crowd, heart hammering, and— there.

Magnus stumbled across the bark of the branch, gasping for breath. His hair was tousled and streaked with something dark that looked like soot, which also covered his face. His arm, cradled close to his chest, boasted an angry red burn along the forearm.

“Magnus,” Alex repeated. He crossed the remaining distance between them and grabbed Magnus’ shoulders. “What happened?”

Magnus smelled like smoke, that same food-scent smoke Alex had smelled earlier, and his breath came in unsteady gasps. Renewed worry jolted through Alex, and without thinking, he lifted a hand to wipe away some of the soot. “Come on, Maggie, talk to me,” Alex whispered, glad when his voice didn’t tremble.

He guided Magnus over to a clearer spot of the branch, away from the more crowded areas. They were fortunate the World Tree was so large, and that this branch hadn’t yet been bothered by Ratatosk or some other irritating creature. Hopefully status quo would endure long enough to make sure Magnus wasn’t too badly injured. Alex found a large knot on the branch, and sat with Magnus against it.

“I’m fine,” Magnus managed finally, voice hoarse. He coughed hard, and Alex watched with trepidation, then resumed cleaning his face as soon as he recovered.

“Clearly,” Alex said. “So what happened?”

Magnus hung his head, still trying to catch his breath, so he didn’t notice TJ approaching. Alex gestured to the burn on Magnus’ arm, then mouthed “first aid.” TJ nodded, eyes full of concern, and darted away.

“I, umm…” Magnus avoided Alex’s gaze. “Well, I might have started a fire.”

“No shit, Sherlock,” Alex retorted. “I figured that out when fire alarms I didn’t even know we had blasted out my eardrums.”

Magnus didn’t look up, and a twinge of regret shot through Alex. “Hey,” he said, softer now, “whatever you did, it’s okay now. The ravens are dealing with it. And besides, this is basically Hogwarts. It’ll fix itself.”

“I know,” Magnus sighed hoarsely. “I just feel like an idiot.”

Alex shifted closer and tugged his burned arm over. Magnus’ innate healing abilities seemed to be working, because the injury already appeared better than it had when Alex had first spotted it. Still, it looked angry-red and painful. Alex bit his lip. He hated seeing Magnus in pain. It had been so long since they’d been in real danger that Alex had forgotten how awful such a thing was to witness.

As if summoned by Alex’s worry, TJ appeared again. Without a word, he handed over a first aid kit, which Alex flung open, rooting through the gauze and bandages and alcohol wipes until he found a small tube of burn ointment.

“Here,” he said to Magnus as he tore it open.

“Where did you even get that?” Magnus asked TJ.

“We live in a magic Hotel,” TJ pointed out.

“True.”

Alex, for one, didn’t care where the kit had come from, only that it was here now. With careful fingers, he spread the ointment over Magnus’ arm, relieved when he could observe the skin growing less red before his eyes. Thank goodness for Frey’s healing powers and modern medicine.

“Magnus!” Alex noticed Halfborn and Mallory jogging over, but he didn’t look away from Magnus to acknowledge them. And Magnus didn’t take his eyes off Alex, either.

“Thank you,” Magnus murmured, squeezing Alex’s free hand.

Alex couldn’t help smiling. “Well, you’re the one who set yourself on fire somehow, you absolute dork.”

“It’s not my fault,” Magnus said, glaring. His voice was still raspy, which negated his sharp tone somewhat. “The stupid microwave—!”

He snapped his mouth shut then, eyes widening. Alex pursed his lips, trying not to laugh. The others, he noticed out of the corner of his eye, were in the same boat.

“You almost burned down the Hotel because of the microwave?”

Magnus’ ears turned scarlet. “I wanted popcorn,” he mumbled.

Alex chuckled in spite of himself, in spite of knowing Magnus was embarrassed. “Oh, Magnus,” he said, resisting the urge to smooth back Magnus’ hair.

“So, umm, anyway,” he said, probably to change the subject, “did you know you have clay on your face?”

Automatically, Alex felt at his cheeks and found that, indeed, there were dried patches of clay caked on the skin there, as well as in his hair around his ears. He remembered clapping his dirty hands over his ears earlier and sighed.

Magnus pressed his lips together, apparently trying not to smile too obviously. “It’s not a bad look. Kind of rugged.”

“Don’t flirt with me, you nerd.” Alex swatted his arm, pleased despite himself. Magnus only chuckled.

Before either of them could speak again, Helgi called to those gathered. “The fire is out! Everyone is safe to go back inside! Residents of floor nineteen, please see me.”

“Oh, no,” Magnus moaned, hiding his face in his hands.

“It’s okay,” Alex said quickly.

“No it’s not. They’re going to—”

“What?” Alex asked. “Kill you?”

That made Magnus laugh, and he lifted his head. “You’ll avenge me, right Alex?”

Alex grinned and stood, then reached for Magnus’ hand to pull him to his feet too. “Of course, my dude.”

— — — 

When the hallmates got back into the Hotel, Helgi and Hunding were waiting for them near the elevators.

Helgi crossed his arms. “Magnus Chase. I wasn’t aware you’d decided to add attempted arson to your list of crimes.”

“Excuse me?” Alex and Magnus blurted in unison, astonished.

Helgi met Alex’s gaze first and sighed. “Please. We all know Odin lets all of you get away with far too much. As luck would have it, though, Odin is not here, and I am in charge. Therefore—”

“Hold on,” Alex snapped. He stepped in front of Magnus and glared at Helgi. “Are you seriously going to punish Magnus for something that was clearly an accident?”

“Was it, though?”

Alex gestured to Magnus’ burned arm. “Does that look deliberate to you?” He stepped forward, getting in Helgi’s face. “Listen, asshat, if you hadn’t installed faulty microwaves, this wouldn’t have happened. Or, what, are freezer meals to the death a thing now? Because I wasn’t aware of that!”

Helgi had taken a step back, but he still sneered. “Now look here, argr—”

“No, _you_ look here,” Alex interrupted. “Don’t blame Magnus for your incompetence. So get him a new microwave, and some popcorn, before I tell Odin what a shitty job you’re doing here. Remember, unlike you, Odin has some sense and actually likes Magnus!”

Sufficiently cowed, Helgi crossed his arms and retreated. “Well. If I ever hear of any funny business on your floor again…” He strode away, grumbling.

Hunding, on the other hand, beamed at them all. “Well, I for one am glad you are all alive and well. Magnus, the damage to your suite was only partial, though for the moment, it smells intensely of smoke. I’ve been informed by Hotel maintenance that the repairs will be finished by the end of the day tomorrow. You will be permitted to enter to retrieve whatever items you might need, but you will need to secure other lodgings for the night.”

Immediately, Alex felt the focus of every pair of eyes in the hall. He stepped back, right onto Magnus foot, and knew he was blushing. “What?”

“Nothing,” Mallory said with a grin. “Except… I bet you have space in your suite, right?”

“Well—”

“I know I don’t,” Halfborn hurried to add, also smirking. “I have too many weapons laying around.”

“Listen—”

“I’m not prepared for guests,” TJ interjected, with a clearly faked tone of disappointment.

“Your place is always neat,” Alex hissed, but TJ just fixed him with a faux-innocent look.

Magnus glanced at Alex, also bright red in the face. “Well, I guess I can only go to you, Alex. If you’ll have me.”

Alex scoffed. “Fine. Whatever.”

He was ready to rush off and escape the knowing expressions of his friends, but Halfborn spoke again. “You say that as if you weren’t worried about him, Alex.”

Silently vowing to kill Halfborn first and slowly in their next practice battle, Alex faced him. “Worried? I wasn’t worried!”

“Alex,” Mallory sighed.

“I wasn’t! Yeah, I wanted to know where Magnus was, but…” He trailed off. “You know what, I just remembered I meant to put a bandage over Magnus’ burn. Come on, Maggie.” He grabbed Magnus’ sleeve and dragged him into a waiting elevator.

“Have a good night!” Hunding called as the doors closed. Alex wasn’t sure if he had picked up on any of the subtext of that awful conversation, but groaned nonetheless.

Once up on floor nineteen and inside the suite, he slammed the door hard behind them.

“Umm, I do still need to go get some stuff from next door,” Magnus said, though he was smiling.

“I can climb over later,” Alex said, gesturing at the tree in the center of the space that magically linked both their rooms. For now, though, he slumped onto the couch and buried his face in his hands.

Magnus joined him and tugged his hands away. “At least I’m not the only one feeling humiliated. But hey, look on the bright side. You didn’t almost burn the building down.”

“Shut up.” Alex replaced his hands over his face.

Magnus chuckled, which—despite the residual embarrassment Alex was feeling—seemed like a good sign that he was feeling better. “So you _were_ worried about me.”

Unlike the others, his voice wasn’t teasing, only fond. Something about the tenderness of his tone reassured Alex, and he lowered his hands to face the son of Frey.

“I was,” he admitted in a whisper. “I had a weird feeling you were in trouble.”

Magnus’ face went soft. “I’m fine, Alex, I promise. Well, pretty much fine. You know, the last significant time I was around fire was… not great… so I guess I’m a little shaken.”

Alex remembered the story: Surt the fire giant, a bridge in Boston, Magnus’ death. “Right,” he said, not sure what else to say. “I’m… sorry.”

Magnus shrugged, eyes down. “No big deal.”

Alex nudged Magnus’ shoulder with his own. He knew Magnus wasn’t one for hugging and things like that, but this felt harmless—and Alex wanted to touch him again, to feel that he was still present and safe. “I really am glad you’re okay, though.”

That brought a smile to Magnus’ face. “I’m starting to think you weren’t _worried_ , Alex,” he said. “I think you were _scared_.”

Alex straightened. “Scared? You think a little thing like you almost burning yourself to death would scare me? I’ve faced draugr and homelessness and shit, Chase. My _worry_ for you was nothing.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, I love you too,” Magnus said, laughing.

Wait.

What?

They both froze, eyes locked. Alex’s heart rate accelerated. The way Magnus’ eyes bulged, the way his lips parted in equal parts shock and horror, told Alex that he hadn’t intended to say those words aloud.

And Alex had never expected to hear him say them—or at least, not in such a casual way. What Alex shared with Magnus… well, they had never exactly defined it. There was just sort of an understanding. They didn’t put their affection for each other on display, though they didn’t hide it either. Among their friends, and even in Alex’s mind, they were a unit.

They regularly spent the night in one another’s suites, fought side by side in every battle, stayed up talking into the early morning hours, depended on each other for support, but… Never had Alex referred to Magnus as “boyfriend,” and neither had Magnus in return.

But Magnus was the most important person in Alex’s life. And after today, after the visceral fear Alex had been grappling with, alone on a branch of the World Tree, perhaps it was about time Alex started admitting that.

“I’m sorry,” Magnus blurted. He sprang to his feet, dragging his fingers through his still-sooty, still-messy hair. “I didn’t mean… I…”

He stumbled backwards toward the door, but Alex chased him. “Wait.”

He seized Magnus’ hands, suddenly breathless. “Wait, Magnus.”

Yes, that declaration had come as a surprise, but Alex knew he didn’t want Magnus to go, knew the declaration wasn’t unwelcome—far from it. Perhaps that should have scared Alex, who had deliberately hidden from any deep relationships forever, but instead he felt an unexpected thrill.

Magnus loved Alex. Magnus _loved_ Alex. _Magnus_ loved _Alex_.

“No, I really am sorry,” Magnus insisted. He was biting down on his lip, and Alex had to hold back from pressing his thumb to Magnus’ mouth to stop him. “I know you’re not… not interested in anything like that, but…” He sighed, the sound of utter defeat. “I don’t know what I was thinking. Can… can we just forget about it? Nothing has to change—”

“No!” Alex exclaimed, and his heart felt as if it were pounding out of his chest. “No, I… I don’t want to forget that.”

Then, his mind caught on something else Magnus had said, and he frowned. “And what do you mean, I’m not interested in anything like that?”

Magnus blinked. “Well… I mean, you said you needed time to think about it, and haven’t said anything since. Plus, it’s not like you’re… all that into having deep emotional conversations. I always have to coax you into it. So I figured you just… don’t want…”

He trailed off, and dread froze Alex’s insides. All this time, after almost three years, and Magnus thought Alex was _still_ considering a relationship with him?

Well, shit.

Words abandoned Alex. He gaped for a moment, still clinging to Magnus’ hands, but found nothing reasonable to say. Finally, he gave up on speech and dragged Magnus close. Their mouths collided in an intense, almost harsh kiss. Magnus gasped softly under Alex’s lips, but Alex ignored him. Instead, he tried to pour all his feelings into this one point of contact—all the desire, all the trust built between them over time, all the love.

“I’m an idiot,” Alex breathed when he pulled back, just far enough to speak. “I’m such an idiot. Magnus, I… I thought you knew. I thought it was especially totally fucking obvious today, with me practically having a panic attack when I didn’t know what happened to you.”

“What’s obvious?” Magnus sounded breathless, and baffled.

Alex resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “How I feel about you. _What_ I feel about you. I thought…” He chuckled, self-awareness seeping in past the pure emotion he felt. “I thought you would have figured it out, even if I hadn’t yet.”

Magnus didn’t reply, just stared.

Alex exhaled, bracing. “I suck at this, sorry. But… I’ve figured it out now.”

“Figured what out?”

This time, Alex’s eyes did roll, almost out of his head. “Gods, you’re dense. I love you too, Magnus, okay?”

Alex’s cheeks burned, but he kept his gaze fixed on Magnus, who gaped. “Y-you…” he stuttered.

“Yeah, I said it.”

“Could you say it again?” Magnus asked, feebly. He bit his lip, but this time it was to hold back a smile.

Alex lifted his hands and pulled Magnus close again, breathing the words into his skin, into his mouth. “I love you, Magnus.”

Magnus let out a hysterical-sounding giggle. “You mean that?”

“Would I say it if I didn’t?”

“Say it again.”

“Oh, come on, Maggie, you heard me the first two times. Let’s not wear it out, okay?” But Alex punctuated every other word or so with a soft kiss, and so left Magnus beaming.

“Fine,” he said. “But Alex, I never thought—”

“I know,” Alex shushed him, “and that’s my fault. I shouldn’t have been so… casual with you. I… I kind of made up my mind about you ages ago, but I guess I didn’t realize. I’ll try to be better.”

“No, Alex, you don’t need to be better,” Magnus replied, then rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. “This is gonna sound really sappy but… I just need you to be you.” His voice had gone quiet and earnest, and Alex shivered. How could he have ever doubted this boy? Alex should have kissed him right there on Naglfar, declared devotion to this ridiculous person in front of the gods and zombies and everyone.

“You’re right, that is sappy.” Alex said. “But… yeah. Back at ya.”

Magnus grinned and captured Alex’s lips again, and Alex sank into the embrace. He knew there might be other days like this one, full of unexpected danger and fear and worry, but on the other hand—this day also held revelation and connection and love. So if Magnus were here through it all, Alex wouldn’t mind days like these.

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to thank Queen, because I listened to pretty much nothing else while writing the majority of this.
> 
> I'd also like to thank my friend Elizabeth for screaming about this story during its creation. You are a gem.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
